


I Don't Dance (With Anyone But You)

by snowstormjonerys



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Slow Build, Slow Dancing, bethyl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 15:34:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5545349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowstormjonerys/pseuds/snowstormjonerys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Daryl Dixon takes Beth Greene to the prison dance, he never imagines it will lead anywhere, especially since technically he really can't even dance, but something about holding Beth in his arms makes him feel like he can do anything. Maybe even fall in love. A Bethyl prison ficlet</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

_I'll never settle down,_  
 _That's what I always thought_  
 _Yeah, I was that kind of man,_  
 _Just ask anyone -_ Lee Brice (I Don't Dance)

For the life of him, Daryl couldn't figure out how he'd gotten roped into his current situation. Certainly, he'd found himself saying yes (while his brain was screaming no) to many a thing he'd never seen himself doing since he'd joined the group back when everything had gone to shit. Hell, he'd spent the better part of every day looking for Sophia, hadn't he? He had nearly gotten himself killed trying to find that little girl, only to have her come walking out of a barn later, turned into one of "them".

He still shivered when he thought of that day. Sometimes he thought that day had changed all of them. That was the moment that they'd all realized that inevitably it came down to "us" and "them", no matter if you were kin, no matter if you knew the person or not.

Everyone lost something that day. Carol had lost Sophia. The Greene's had lost their family members too, having kept them locked in the barn on some wild notion that they could come back from it. That they could somehow have survived and gotten well somehow. But that wasn't how it worked. Once they turned, they became one of "them"; there was no coming back from that.

He thought of who Beth had lost that day and how they had then almost lost her and he didn't understand it fully why that turned his shiver into a full body shudder, but he was grateful that they didn't lose her. He couldn't imagine what it would be like without her.

It was odd to him how before he'd gone to her cell that night to tell her that her boyfriend had not made it on their supply run, he'd just never really considered her all that much. He'd noticed her, sure. But she was just sort of _there_. She was kind of one of the people behind the scenes at the prison that made life so much better for everyone else. Like Hershel who tended to the sick. He could whoop ass with the best of them but where he was needed the most was off the front lines.

Beth had taken on the role of mother to many of the children, even the ones that had straggled in from Woodbury after the Governor lost his damn mind and killed many of his own in cold blood. And before that she'd taken on the role of mother to one of their own, Judith Grimes. Everyone knew Rick would have been shit out of luck if it hadn't been for Beth stepping into that role and no one could deny that girl loved Lil Asskicker as if she was her own.

That night in Beth's cell, he'd gone to her, and he didn't know why it was important that it come from him that Zac had died, but he'd insisted to Maggie that he be the one to break it to her. He felt responsible but somehow it was more than that. He felt he owed it to her. So he'd gone to his cell and dropped off his bow and removed his vest, unstrapped his sheath from his belt, placing his knife on the table by his cot. These were all things he associated with being the guardian of the group and tonight, he felt anything but a protector. He felt like he'd failed them and going to this girl to let her know her beau was gone, well it wouldn't seem right if he went there pretending otherwise.

Maybe that was how he had come to agree to take pretty Beth Greene to the prison dance. It had sounded ridiculous to him at the time; that they were going to have a "Prison Prom". It had been Beth's idea and after Zac died she declared that she didn't want to do it any longer but her old man had come to him.

"My daughter has been quiet lately and she says she doesn't want to have that dance any more but I know my Bethy. She was looking forward to that dance more than anything in the world. It's always been important to her to try to make things as normal as possible for everyone here and she thought it would help. More than anything, I know it would cheer her up just to hear the music again."

Daryl nodded to the old man mutely. He wasn't sure why he was telling him all this. He guessed he could see his point though. It would be good for the morale of the group to have something else to focus on, at least for a couple of hours. Something besides surviving, running, and keeping from dying. "But she doesn't want to have it?" Daryl looked at the eldest Greene, kind of at a loss.

"I'm an old man, Daryl. I'm not gonna be around much longer. Chances are I won't get to dance at my daughter's weddings. This might be the only chance I have. I've seen how you and Beth have gotten a bit closer and I can't think of anyone else who might be able to coax her into going. Least ways, not anyone I can trust."

He looked up at the man sharply. It was on the tip of his tongue to protest but there it was again. This undeniable urge to let his mouth go speaking for what his brain hadn't caught up to. So instead of saying no, he found himself nodding. He thought for a minute, waiting for his mind to catch up. "I'll see what I can do." He wondered then after Hershel walked away why he had picked him. He said he trusted him but he trusted Rick too. Of course, Rick still wasn't in the best frame of mind ever since Lori passed. He figured he'd be the same way if he was in his shoes, which was odd because Daryl had never before imagined himself to be in anyone's shoes in that capacity.

He shook all thoughts from his mind now as he finished getting ready. Maggie had gotten wind of the whole thing and went crazy with planning outfits for everyone and the last run they'd made, she had them swing around to a mall where she'd plundered the place for formal wear or at least something that passed for it. Not surprisingly, they had a full array of dress shirts and slacks and dresses to choose from as he guessed not many people had a need for prom attire at the end of the world. He looked absurd, he decided, as he looked in the mirror at his reflection. He wondered what his brother would say if he could see him now, in the makings "monkey suit" as he always liked to call them. Not that Dixons had any occasion to wear one, he was usually poking fun at someone. He'd certainly poke fun at him in what he'd modified from what Maggie had given him and they'd finally come to an agreement on. That woman was a force to be reckoned with and he didn't know how Glenn handled it.

He was wearing a white button up shirt and black slacks with a pair of the nicest shoes he thought he'd ever had, shiny black leather ones like the sort a banker or lawyer would wear. As he tried to finger comb his hair into some semblance of order, he thought over his conversation with Beth when he'd asked her to the dance. He'd thought he'd never get the words out.

"Your dad said you don't want to have the dance anymore." She'd stared at him for a long moment and nodded.

"It just doesn't feel right to do it. No one probably wants to anyway." She shrugged, her sweater slipping off the pale curve of her shoulder.

He thought of another time when she'd said that. When her old man had asked her to sing something the night they had taken the prison yard. " _No want wants to hear",_ she'd said. But he had found that _he_ had. He'd watched her that night; had watched all of them, just on the outskirts of the group, scouring the area for walkers, for anyone that threatened their safety. The others had all seemed surprised that Beth could sing, but he wasn't. He'd heard her several times as she'd tried to calm down Carl or once he'd stumbled upon her and Lori; Beth had been singing to Lori's ever-growing belly. He'd thought it was weird at the time but now he just recognized it as another one of Beth's ways of making their world better. So he thought of how her old man had coaxed her that night.

"Well, I want to do it." She had looked up at him, her big blue eyes gone wide with surprise and he'd smirked at her a bit because he'd known that would get her attention. It had at least brought a tiny smile out of her, even if it was in shock that the likes of him wanted to have a dance. The odd thing was that now that he was in front of her, he really did want to go. He held his breath and she looked down at the baby in her lap, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and looked back up at him.

"Why?" Her head tilted to one side, her expression one of open curiosity.

Well, hell. He should have known it was coming. For a minute, he was struck dumb and stupid because he'd never thought she would ask him for his motivations. He thought for a minute before he answered deciding to appeal to her sense of community. "I think it would be good for the group."

_Everything we do has to be for the greater good of the group_. Rick had said that countless times. Enough times that it had pretty much become their mantra.

She nodded at him. "Okay, we'll do it then."

What he said next surprised even him because he thought it would take half a day to get out the rest of what he'd come to say. "Will you go with me? To the dance, I mean." He waited for the rejection. Waited for the inevitable moment that she'd tell him that she changed her mind and she didn't want to have it after all. Because why would she want to go to this dance with him. She'd had a boyfriend and he'd died. A boyfriend that had been set to take her to this dance. Daryl knew he wasn't even anything close to that and probably never would be.

As he looked at her, a smile turned up the corners of her mouth and her face lit up like fireflies in a mason jar. There was a brief, flashing light all at once and then a muted smile slipped in place. "I'd love to." Her cheeks fired up in a blush that he thought probably matched his own.

And now here he was, a handful of sunflowers in his hand, ready to pick up sweet Beth Greene for the prison formal and he felt like he'd swallowed a lead ball and it had settled into his stomach awful and heavy. That is, until she parted the curtains of her cell and stepped into view.

There she was in a red strappy number that curved in all the right places and not for the first time he realized how Beth had truly grown into a beautiful young woman. Her hair was swept back from her face and cascaded down over her left shoulder, falling in a curtain of sun-bright wheat. The red of the dress highlighted the blush of her cheeks perfectly and he didn't think he'd ever seen her look so pretty. Hell, he didn't think he'd ever seen _anyone_ look so pretty.

As his eyes met hers, he was nearly drowning in the blue of her eyes that reminded him of the color of that lake quarry back before they'd found the farm, shimmering crystalline sapphire in the sunlight. He extended his hand that held the flowers and prayed she couldn't see the gentle tremor in the leaves as his hands shook slightly. "These are for you."

"Thank you, Daryl, these are beautiful." There it was again. That brilliant smile that seemed to light up the whole room and he decided then that he was wrong before. This was the moment he was struck dumb and speechless. For the life of him, he couldn't put two words together so instead he held out his arm, just like Michonne had shown him. He'd had to ask somebody and though she'd teased him mercilessly, she'd kept her mouth shut. Daryl nearly held his breath as Beth slipped her tiny hand through his arm and as her fingers found purchase against his sleeve, gripping his forearm, he inhaled deeply.

The fact that she smelled like the wildflowers that he'd just brought her didn't really help much to squelch his nerves, but then she gave his arm a tiny squeeze. "Relax," she whispered. "This is going to be fun. I promise".

He glanced down at her and her face was turned up to his, her smile lighting up her eyes (and the whole damn corridor). He nodded, took a deep breath and actually felt the tension leaving his shoulders and that tightness in his chest eased just a bit. As they walked together towards the dining hall that they'd cleared for the dance, he couldn't help the tiny smile that crept onto his face. Maybe her smile was contagious, he didn't know.

Something about going to a dance with Beth Greene at the end of the world made things seem like maybe things would be alright after all. Maybe not forever, but for right now. And that was enough for him.


	2. She was going to a dance with Daryl Dixon

Beth looked up from where she was holding Judith on her lap in her cell at the sound of Daryl's voice, clearing his throat from the entrance. She smiled softly at him.

"Hey, Daryl." She wondered what brought him to her cell at this time of the afternoon. Usually he was out clearing the fences or on a run. Maybe he'd come to check to see if Judy needed anything. She waited for him to speak as he leaned against the cell door and drug one hand through his hair, sweeping it back from his eyes. It had gotten long since they'd been at the prison. Beth wondered if anyone had offered to cut it for him, but she didn't feel like it was her place to ask him such a thing.

"Your dad said you don't want to have the dance anymore." It was the last thing she'd expected him to say and she met his gaze, his steely blues seeming like they cut right into her. But maybe it was just because she was sensitive about the dance. Zac was supposed to take her and then after he died, it seemed like such a frivolous thing. She felt unbelievably stupid for suggesting it in the first place; they clearly didn't live in a world where things like dances and summer picnics and Thanksgiving existed. Not anymore.

"It just doesn't feel right to do it. No one probably wants to anyway." She shrugged and looked down at Judy happily babbling up at her. Beth shoved her errant sweater back up onto her shoulder. She should have known better than to wear this one today since she was taking care of Judith. The little girl was a delight with everything that she was learning to do, but she was a handful with what she could get into, least of all grabbing at Beth's hair and clothes.

"Well, I want to do it." He said. Her eyes flew to his and she saw that he was serious. Despite the fact that she was sad about the dance, she was wildly curious as to why Daryl, of all people, would want to have it and it brought a smile to her face.

She felt a wave of ridiculous giddiness and ducked her head before the smile got too wide and pressed a kiss to Judy's head. She only looked up when she felt a bit more composed.

"Why?" She tilted her head, studying him. He looked mildly surprised that she'd asked him and she wondered if he'd answer for a minute because he wasn't saying anything. Still, that was Daryl's way and she waited.

He looked back up at her and the steely blue in his eyes had given way to a lighter, shade, almost crystal blue and he appeared somehow happier. "I think it would be good for the group."

Well, he had her there because if anyone knew what was good for their ragtag band of survivors they'd come to call family, then it was Daryl Dixon.

She nodded at him, pulling her lower lip into her mouth while she thought it over. "Okay, we'll do it then."

"Will you go with me? To the dance, I mean." For the second time in this brief conversation, he surprised her and she knew she must appear crazy for a minute with her mouth gaping open. Finally, she found a modicum of good grace that her mama had taught her and smiled at him. She couldn't believe he'd asked her and once again she felt a rush of schoolgirl giddiness. And even though that seemed silly, that just made her smile more.

"I'd love to." As soon as the words left her mouth the reality set in. _She was going to a dance with Daryl Dixon._ Her heart seemed to turn itself over and restart, sending a rush of heat in her veins, firing up her face in crimson. She felt an overwhelming urge to giggle and she fought for her composure as she nodded.

"Well, I'll see you at supper." He waved at Judy and still, he looked a little lost in that moment and she wracked her brain for something to set him at ease as he turned away.

"Daryl." She called his name just before he left her doorway.

"Mmm?" He turned to face her again, his eyes sliding over hers once more.

"Thank you." She whispered.

He nodded and turned to leave but just before he did, Beth could swear that she saw an honest to God smile cross his face. That just made her smile more.

She made until she heard his footsteps completely retreat and then burst into giggles and flung herself back on the bed, hoisting Judy in the air, the little girl's peals of laughter matching Beth's.

If she looked crazy she didn't care, because well, _she was going to a dance with Daryl Dixon._

* * *

"Hold still." Maggie said sternly, while Beth tried to do as she asked but she kept sneaking furtive glances at the curtains, that Maggie had pinned closed so no one wandered in, especially the little kids. They'd all been warned to stay away from "Miss Beth" today and give her a day off for the big dance. They'd all agreed but children were naturally curious and they'd already had to shoo Molly and Luke off twice, their peals of laughter echoing off the corridors of the prison as their footsteps padded away quickly.

Beth smiled at the memory of Daryl chasing them off the first time before she'd been getting ready (and Maggie trapped her in here). He'd been gruff but when he'd turned around, he had a grin on his face. No one saw it but her, but she had.

"What are you smilin' about? _Da-ryl?_ " Maggie drew out the last syllable of Daryl's name.

"Stop it Maggie." Beth admonished, as Maggie put yet another bobby pin in her hair. "I told ya, me and Daryl are just friends."

"Well, I'm just sayin' that I never made goo goo eyes at _my_ so called friends. 'Sides he likes you too, you know."

Beth, for the first time, since Maggie started doing her hair, actually did as she asked and sat absolutely stock still. "He does _not_." She insisted, but yep, there it was. There was a lilt of hesitation in her voice and that was where she went wrong.

Maggie took her cue and went for the kill. "All I'm saying is he doesn't look at you like a friend does, Bethy."

Beth had always thought Maggie had all the answers in life until recently. They'd differed on things here and there since they got to the prison. She accounted it for the way they were having to live day to day and just survive and just how hard it was now do to so. Things in the old world were better and answers to life's problems were a bit easier to come by.

Still, when it came to matters of the heart, she knew her sister had her best interest in mind. So she had to wonder if maybe, just maybe, she was right about this too. Did Daryl see her as something more than a friend? _Did she want that?_

Her heart fluttered up into her throat at the thought. Suddenly, more than anything, she wanted Maggie to be right.

Maybe it was foolish but she wanted for tonight, to pretend that it was all real and this was the world that they could have. Tonight, she was going to just be a girl going to her first dance, waiting for the guy to sweep her off her feet.

Maggie had just put the last touches on her hair when they heard Daryl clear his throat right outside her curtains. Maggie jumped up and Beth shot her a warning glare as she got up and went to the curtain. She didn't need Maggie to intercede for her. This was her cell after all.

Maggie frowned and sat back down, looking very much like a kid who'd just been scolded. Beth took a deep breath and unpinned the curtain, tossing the safety pin on the table and reached up to part the curtains.

What she saw literally stole her breath. Daryl Dixon cleaned up _very_ nicely.

He was dressed in neat front-crease black slacks and black shoes and a white button up shirt that he'd left untucked, which completely suited him. His hair had gotten slightly long recently but it hung endearingly over his eyes. He looked so handsome, she swore her nerves must have jacked up to an all time high.

Suddenly there was bunch of beautiful yellow sunflowers right in front of her. She wondered how he knew those were her favorite. "These are for you."

There it was again, her heart doing that thing where it tries to escape her chest. "Thank you Daryl. These are beautiful."

He looked at her for such a long time and finally put his arm in a crook. It was such a gallant gesture, she couldn't help but smile at him. She slipped her hand through his arm and her fingers came to rest on the sleeve of his shirt.

"Have fun you two." Maggie called from behind her.

She thought she might have responded, but later she couldn't be sure. Somehow though, she thought Maggie would understand.

As they drew closer to the dining hall, the decorations for the dance came into view and even the corridor was strung up with Christmas lights and Beth was struck again with that surreal feeling. She'd seen the place earlier and they'd really done a lovely job transforming the drab interior with stars cut out of aluminum foil pasted onto cardboard and a large hand-painted mural in an exact replica of One Starry Night, the chosen theme for the dance.

It seemed cheesy probably or it would in the old world, some kind of cliché retro theme from the 50s or 60s but to Beth, it was perfect. It was probably the one thing that was at least relatable and did not remind them of the times they left behind, replacing car horns and everyday life with the snarls of walkers and the stench of decay. Whenever Beth was feeling bad about things, sometimes she slipped out the back exit of the prison and crept around the corner where no one ever hung out. It was an abandoned patch of the courtyard where all the skeletons of old cars and heaps of junk had accumulated in their months at the prison.

Out there, in the black of night, the vague echoed signs of life in the corridors of the cell block faded into the black, she'd sit down against the cinder-block wall and peer up at the night sky. There, among the stars, she could get lost for hours, thinking how no matter how bad things got down here, the stars were still there to help guide them somehow. And maybe Daddy was right. Maybe God was still up there just out of reach of those stars and maybe he let them keep sparkling in the twilight sky to remind them that there were still bright spots in the world; there were still shining, twinkling moments left to be had.

Walking on Daryl's arm she had to believe that it might be possible, because she felt lighter than she had in a long while.

She glanced up at him and he seemed tense and she wondered if he'd ever taken a girl to a dance when he was in school. She gave his forearm a gentle squeeze and his eyes snapped to hers and she nearly lost her breath again so her voice came out in a whisper. "Relax. This is going to be fun. I promise".

There it was again. That tiny smile. She'd come to think of it as "her" smile because she'd never seen him look at anyone else like that and smile and she wondered again if Maggie was right. (She hoped she was.) She wished her mama was here so she could ask her.

"Y' alright?" Daryl's voice was low right by her ear, bringing her out of her ruminations, and it startled her for a second him being that close. She looked up at him and the surprise must have shown on her face. "Sorry, you just looked a million miles away." He mumbled.

She squeezed his arm again reassuringly. "Sorry, got lost in daydreams there for a minute. Was just thinking how my Mama would have loved to have seen me go to somethin' like this."

Daryl nodded thoughtfully. He didn't say anything. Just swept his eyes over her face once, twice, three times, his gaze coming to land on her eyes and she got lost in his. She had never before noticed the exact shade of blue of his eyes. She couldn't even decide on the color now because he was regarding her so. "I'm sure she's watching from somewhere. From what your old man says, she was quite a lady."

Something hitched in her chest at his words. She was struck again how there was more to Daryl than meets the eye, as he seemed to find the perfect words with no trouble at all. Words that made her feel instantly better about things. She smiled softly at him. "She was. You would have loved her." She stopped for a minute and looked at him seriously. "She would have loved you too. As much as Daddy does. Maybe more." She said confidently.

"Don't know about that." He said, watching her.

"Well, I do." She said, smiling at him.

He paused right outside the entrance to the dining hall. "I have a confession to make. I don't dance. I mean I never been t' one of these before."

_Oh._ It did something to her heart that he thought something like that would matter to her. Because it didn't. She was just happy to be here with him.

She shook her head at him and smiled sweetly. "Neither have I." She slipped her arm out of his and slid her palm down the length of his forearm, lacing her fingers through his daringly, all while looking up at him. "We'll figure it out together." Her heart raced and she swore he could hear it as she waited for him to withdraw his hand and step away, but he didn't.

She sighed inwardly in contentment as he squeezed her hand gently in response and there was that tiny smile again, pointed in her direction only. "Let's go then, Greene. We've got a dance to get to."

They walked into the dance, fingers intertwined and if anyone raised their eyebrows, Beth didn't care. She was here with Daryl Dixon holding her hand and they were going to have their own starry night, figuring out their world together and maybe, just maybe, there could be one shining moment between them leached from the night sky; a stardust memory that they could hold between them, forever.


	3. "We figured it out"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is unabashed fluff. I make no apologies for it. You have been warned.......

They walked into the dining area and there were a few others already there, Patrick and some other girl from Woodbury. Sara, Laura? Daryl couldn't keep them all straight. He had heard through the prison grapevine that Carl had asked Lizzie and she must have said yes because they were standing against the wall, arms crossed over their chests and looking anywhere but each other. Daryl smirked to himself; he wondered if the kid's dad had given him any pointers and he was guessing he hadn't by the looks of things, however Daryl was hardly the person to tell him how to talk to a girl.

He had a girl beside him now and he could barely put two words together. He gave Carl a final glance before turning back to Beth, deciding the kid was on his own. They were standing at the edge of the room just taking in their surroundings. No one had approached them yet and he was fiercely glad.

Daryl had told Beth the truth; he didn't know the first thing about dancing, only what he had seen on television and movies and even that was limited. Sure, he knew the premise of dancing and now that they were here, the reality had set in that he was going to have to touch her. A lot. And he was okay with that on one level because he was holding her hand within his now (Jesus H was her hand ever tinier than he imagined, though her grip was surprisingly strong), but on another level it scared the ever living shit out of him.

An old Sammy Haggar song was playing and Beth was humming alongside him. He glanced at her curiously, surprised that she knew it; she was likely not even born yet when it came out. "You know this song?"

She reached her free hand up to tuck an errant strand of her long locks and smiled up at him. "Of course. My brother Shawn introduced me to some heavier stuff." She shrugged. "I like all kinds of music, I guess." A small smile played up at the corner of her lips. "Daddy wasn't real happy about it but he eventually forgave him." There was a bit of mirth in her eyes as she spoke and he couldn't help but think of her with blond pigtails and braces singing along and bobbing her head to the heavy bass, maybe tapping her toes to the beat.

"Who taught you how to sing?" He'd been surprised to hear her that first night and he'd always wanted to ask her where she learned how to sing as pretty as she did.

"No one really? We are, _were_ ," she corrected herself, "a very musical family. Mama taught me piano and I've been singing ever since I can remember."

He nodded. He wasn't sure what else to say. A thousand things were on the tip of his tongue to utter but instead he just looked at her taking in her expression.

"We don't have to dance you know." She whispered conspiratorially with an unmistakable spark in her eye, like the stardust had just been plucked from the sky and placed in her gaze. That's what it reminded him of, looking into the deep blue of her eyes, like he could get lost. Just fall in and drown in their depth. He didn't know where thoughts like that came from but it kept happening more and more it seemed, especially around Beth.

"Nah, I asked you to a dance. We're gonna dance. I just hope I don't step on your feet." He looked down to assess her footwear, suddenly fiercely glad that she didn't wear some kind of strappy heel mess that was sure to get her toes stepped on by his ungraceful, not to mention, two left feet.

"Hey you two look great!" Karen's voice came from behind them at the entrance and they both turned to greet her.

"Thanks." Beth answered with a smile. He couldn't take his eyes off of her as she spoke, because there was something almost luminous about her tonight as she stood there in her red dress, so damn beautiful he could barely breathe, he wondered vaguely what the hell he had ever done to earn standing next to her now. Instantly, he decided the answer was nothing. There was nothing he could have done to make him deserving of even being in her presence, let alone the way she was clasping his hand, hanging onto him like he was her lifeline. When really it was the other way around and that was weird too, because before now, he'd never really thought he had a life worth saving.

He didn't even think to remove his hand from hers. He had at first, but just because he wasn't used to others touching him. But he was starting to adjust and now that her hand was firmly encased in his own, much larger one, he didn't really want her to let go.

_Huh_.

That confused the hell out of him because when in his life had anyone ever held his hand? No one but her, is the only answer that kept echoing back at him while she chatted with Karen about the decorations and he just took in the way her eyes danced over the room, her gaze skipping around and pointing out this star hanging from the steel beams or that drawing hung on the wall. She was enthralled with the beauty around her, when really the most beautiful sight in the whole room was her. And he didn't even think she was aware of it.

"What do you think Daryl?" Beth was asking. His face fired up red instantly wondering if she could suddenly hear his thoughts.

"Huh?" Yeah, that sounds really intelligent, Dixon, he thought with a tiny bit of self loathing that he had so clearly been caught not paying attention to the conversation (and staring at her).

Karen chuckled. "It's okay, Beth, I gotta run, Maggie and I have to get the refreshments ready to bring out. I think Daryl was caught up looking at the _décor_ too." Daryl didn't miss the bit of ribbing but he didn't acknowledge it either. She winked at Beth and walked away in the direction of the kitchen.

He met Beth's eyes hesitantly, unsure of what to say (like usual). The mirth was still there in her gaze but it was like they shared a secret together. He thought maybe she'd drop his hand or make an excuse after he made it all awkward. But in looking at her now, falling right back into those baby blues, it hit him right between the eyes.

_She actually liked him looking at her._

The song had changed a bit ago and was still upbeat and fast and he still didn't know anything about how to dance but he wanted her to have a good time. The person that did so much to make their world special deserved a special night. He tried to remember some of the steps that he'd let Michonne show him hurriedly in the courtyard then scrapped the whole thing and decided he'd just wing it.

Here goes.

"Come on." He nodded to the dance floor and held out his arm and even if it felt like pushing those two words out of his mouth took an eternity and they felt like they got hung up in the back of his throat, seeing her eyes light up with the smile that stretched across her face was worth every bit of discomfort he was feeling. Because in the end, her happiness was all that mattered.

Just as they got to the center of the designated dance area, the music changed to a slower beat and he realized in looking over at Karen that he'd just been duped. He was getting ready to slow dance with pretty Beth Greene and he froze. He just knew he was going to fuck this up somehow and she would hate him after this.

Then she was pulling on his sleeve as he faced her. His eyes flicked down to hers where she was looking up at him and instantly, he could breathe again (which was weird, because usually he held his breath around her). Her fingers closed over the fabric of his shirtsleeve and he could feel the warmth of her touch seeping into him, letting him know it was okay.

"Together, remember?" Her soft gaze was a gentle reminder and if it sparked a memory of a time when he was the one supposed to be comforting her, that was okay. He kind of thought it was meant to.

" _Are you okay?"_ Her eyes seemed to say again just like they had that night in her cell.

He nodded and couldn't quite suppress a small smile at this girl's innate ability to put him at ease. "A'ight but watch your toes." He put his hands to her impossibly tiny waist, just like Michonne had shown him.

She giggled up at him as she placed her hands on either shoulder, her fingers resting lightly over the curve of his back. "What am I supposed to watch them do? Fall off?" She looked down at her feet and flashed her eyes back up at him.

As he gently swayed them to the music, shuffling his feet slightly to move them along (he couldn't name the song that was playing if he tried), he chuckled. "Didn't you get my warnings, girl? They just might."

She smiled up at him. "You're doin' fine so far, _Mr. Dixon_."

A swirl of emotion hit his gut at her words and his blood surged with a short burst of confidence. "Song ain't over yet, Greene." He bit right back and she laughed. He found he really liked the sound of it and decided that she didn't do it nearly enough. It occurred to him that probably none of them did; life hadn't given them much to be happy about lately. But twirling around the dance floor (albeit awkwardly slow) with Beth Greene at the end of the world, he decided in that moment that was the about closest to happiness a person could get.

* * *

_Oh._ Her heart kept doing that thing where it was trying to suffocate her lungs and it made it hard to breathe around him and she chastised herself for being so hopelessly-. Girly, she decided. Still, it was hard not to be happy.

Beth couldn't quite believe how well the night was turning out. She was actually dancing in Daryl Dixon's arms. As he'd led her around the floor, they'd gotten more comfortable and he was noticeably closer than when he'd first tentatively put his fingers to her waist. And if he noticed her heart beating very fast, he didn't say anything. Besides she knew he was just as nervous as she was.

It's precisely why she'd reached down and taken his hand and never let go. She realized at the time she had done it to comfort him but as he continued to keep her hand held within his, she came to recognize that it was for herself too. Which was weird because while she had had two boyfriends, one before the turn and one after the world had ended, she had never sought out affections from them much. It had rather been the other way around for the most part.

She tried to tell herself it was just a crush with Daryl. She tried to tell herself she was imagining things but then Maggie's words would come back to her, a whisper in this magical night, and she wasn't sure if it was meant to let her get carried away or to ground her to the moment. All she knew was it made her want it more than anything.

" _He doesn't look at you like a friend, Bethy."_

In all the uncertainty that surrounded this night and what any of it might mean afterwards, Beth was absolutely sure of one thing. He was nervous too. But the way he kept flitting his eyes to hers and locking her in his steely gaze was anchoring her down. Which was good, because she felt like any moment she might float right on away. She wondered if she did, if he'd go with her. She thought of the angel wings stitched into the soft leather of his vest and decided he was their guardian angel, so of course he'd follow her out into the world on her airy quest.

Maybe when all this was over, they could take flight into the trees, hand in hand, under the starry sky, two wildlings running for the future, running for safety, running for freedom from this literal imprisonment.

But now. Now, despite the walls that surrounded them and the gates outside that kept out the dead ones, she oddly felt freer than she ever had. So what if their movements were awkward and slightly clumsy and Daryl had nearly stepped on her feet three times already. It was sweet and well, it was quite romantic.

She blushed at the thought and looked back up at him. She was finding it harder and harder to do so. Both because he was so incredibly handsome (and he cleaned up so damn good) but also the way he was looking at her was making it impossible for her to not think of what might happen between them after this night (or what might happen at the end of _this_ night). That thought made her heart flutter all the more.

"Oh!" The small gasp slipped from her lips before she could stop it. Daryl had indeed just stepped on her toe.

"'M sorry." He dropped his hands from her waist and stepped away and for one horrifying moment she thought she had scared the daylights out of him and he'd bolt for sure, just take flight without her and she felt her heart flutter right up into her throat for he'd just knelt instantly to the ground at her feet. He peered up at her as he checked out her foot which was really none the worse for wear. It had startled her more than anything.

He looked impossibly lost and raw and real in that moment, waiting for her to tell him she was okay, his forehead etched in worry lines.

"Daryl, I'm fine." She said softly, bringing her one hand up to steady herself on his shoulder. She told herself she was just off balance because he was hanging onto her foot so, turning it this way and that, examining it for damage. She told herself it was just the lighting that had him looking at her like that. She told herself a lot of things, she realized, as she locked eyes with him.

" _I don't cry anymore Daryl._ "

For once, she'd like to stop lying to herself. She had cried this very day. Lying hadn't gotten her anywhere so far. She wondered how much further she'd get with the truth and was reminded again that it would be so nice to take a midnight flight out of here.

Daryl's voice was again calling her back to the present as he gently probed her foot, having removed her shoe so he could examine it more closely, her bare foot resting in his grasp. "You sure? Wiggle your toes. Told ya I was gonna step on your feet. 'M sorry Beth." He looked back up at her and he was so genuine, so honest to God apologetic that he had thought she actually was hurt, her heart swelled up and felt like it was fairly bursting.

"It's okay. I promise." She couldn't help the wide grin that spread across her face as she obliged him and flexed her toes back and forth. "I'm not made of glass you know. I won't break that easy."

His eyes locked onto hers again as if he wanted to argue but he didn't. She wasn't sure what she might have said if he'd try to refute it. Right now, she felt like that was a lie too. She felt like right now if he stopped touching her, she'd shatter into a million pieces; a twisted kaleidoscope mosaic of what her life had become.

She tried to breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth but she was oddly short of breath and it had everything to do with the way he was extending his hand to her, then pulling her up flush with him. He was really just a breath away and that was a problem because she was all out of air.

She should have been worried about what people might think. She should have. But all she could think was how she really wanted him to kiss her. Not just any kiss. A heel-popping, cinematic movie kiss and maybe that was some lofty dream but she didn't care.

This was the night made for dreams or maybe it was made _from_ dreams. She wasn't sure it mattered right now.

"Want to walk outside for a minute?" His voice was low, gruff. "Give your toes a break from danger?" His eyes sparked at hers and held a bit more tease than she would have ever expected from Daryl Dixon. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice was asking what about the danger the rest of her body was going to be in? But she thought maybe she didn't care about that either.

The invitation was a godsend and she nodded at him gratefully. It was like he knew all her wants before she did, but then again Daryl was perceptive about all the members of their group. He saw a lot more than people realized.

He met her eyes as he slid his hand down and laced their fingers together. He didn't say anything and she didn't either. She didn't dare. It was one of those stardust moments she'd hoped for, plucked right out of the heavens and meant just for them. She squeezed his palm and smiled softly at him. She thought maybe they'd taken flight after all for before she knew it, they were outside in the dark, the sounds muted through the door that shut behind them.

The walkers were at the fences, snarling and clanging the metal in the distance. But as they stepped out into the starry night, and her eyes adjusted to the dark, all Beth heard was the music they'd left behind and her feet still felt ready to dance. But only with him. Only with Daryl.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark and her gaze was drawn upward to the smattering of stars that looked like they'd been flung up there just for them. The moon was half full and lighting up the courtyard where they were relatively out of eyesight from the rest of the prison yard.

She looked back down to find that Daryl was studying her again, watching her and she smiled. She wondered what he saw when he looked at her and she decided it must be something good because he smiled back. _Her_ smile.

"What?" She couldn't resist asking him, even if she didn't know exactly _what_ she was asking.

He shrugged and looked to the side and then back at her again like he didn't know what to say and she sort of understood how that felt. "I get it." She said simply and nodded at him sagely, and she didn't know where she found the strength but she looked right into his eyes and this time, she didn't care if she got lost.

He hadn't let go of her hand and later she'd go over the moment over and over again and she'd never be able to decide who moved first but his other hand found hers and before she knew it, those fingers were laced together too. His hands so big, just encompassing hers and she'd never felt safer.

She thought maybe she was wrong before. Maybe _this_ was the moment that was stolen from the stars and cast upon them like a magic spell.

"You do?"

She nodded again. "We figured it out." She whispered.

"Yeah." Daryl smiled again ( _her smile_ ) his eyes cutting into hers, crinkling up endearingly at the corners.

Even with the walkers at the fences, even with all the uncertainty of their lives from day to day, she couldn't for the life of her think of a more perfect moment in the whole world than his one word. And what it meant and what it might mean. It said everything.

"Yeah." She smiled right back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have cavities from that fluff, I'm sorry, but please don't give me your dental bill. You were warned. ;) Reviews make me happy. xoxoxo


	4. Ten thousand fireflies

" _We figured it out."_

He knew she was talking about how they'd figured out how to dance together even if they hadn't really (he'd stepped on her toes after all) but he kind of thought she might mean something else. Because something else indeed was happening here and even if he didn't understand it all, he knew it was _good._ Because Beth Greene was about as good as they came and even if he couldn't figure out why she was standing here holding hands with him at the end of the goddamned world, he was glad of it. They were figuring it all out together. This thing between them, whatever it was.

"Yeah." He barely spoke above a whisper, not because he was afraid anyone would hear. Anyone out there beyond the fences was long past the point of hearing and understanding human words. He wasn't worried about any of the others either, though that should be odd, it wasn't. It was because of her old man they were standing here in the first place. No, his voice was barely above a whisper for the reverence of this moment, being here with her like they were the last two people left on the earth. And how that should have scared him but instead, thrilled him.

"Yeah." She breathed back and smiled up at him like she thought he'd hung the stars above their heads that were reflected back in her gaze. He realized in that moment that she was looking at his lips like she expected, well, like she expected him to kiss her and it made his heart flip over something awful in his chest to realize that he wanted that too. He wanted it very much.

A bright flicker of yellow flashed in the corner of his eye and a flutter of wings near his eyelashes had him rearing his head back a bit.

"Fireflies!" Beth said in wonder as he looked down at her, her face full of light as she stared out at the dark night where sure enough, the telltale flickers flashed against the blackness, here and there in swooping flight.

"It's kind of weird that they still exist with all _that_ happenin' out there." She gestured to the couple of straggling walkers by the fence.

"Mmm." He got what she was saying. There were some things that didn't make a lot of sense to him either (Like what she was doing here with him). He squeezed her hands gently, letting her know he got it. He felt it then, the gentle flexing of her fingers in his, her palms pressed to his callused flesh, fingers clasping within, and there went that flip-flopping of his heart again.

"When I was little, me and Maggie used to go running to the house right at dusk. Mama would give us a big ole Mason jar with holes poked into the lid so we could make our own firefly lantern. Maggie always lost interest after the first couple were caught, but I didn't." She sighed. "I'd stay out there for an age, collecting them until the jar just sparkled with all the twinkling little fireflies."

He watched her as she spoke and he could imagine her in his mind's eye, all bright blue eyes and knobby knees walking around her backyard collecting lighted insects in a glass jar. He cleared his throat. "Just a second." He said, faltering a moment, and dropped her hands reluctantly before walking towards where all the old cars were parked.

Beth watched Daryl walk away and start digging around where he kept all his things to work on the cars and motorcycles and just about anything else that needed fixing around the prison yard. She couldn't see what he was doing and she had her suspicions but she still lost her breath when he came walking back towards her with a Mason jar, all ready to become a lantern, even if only for an hour or two. (She'd always let them go so they didn't die).

Just before he reached her he held the Mason jar up to the moonlight and blew off the dust before finally handing it to her. "It's not the best, but it'll have to do."

"It's perfect". She breathed as she took it from him. She could hardly believe sometimes how incredibly thoughtful he was. Everyone had him pegged wrong, she thought. "You gonna help me catch 'em?" Beth looked at him smiling, fully expecting him to decline and hang back and watch. She couldn't imagine Daryl Dixon, thus, putting fireflies into a jar on the whim of nostalgia. Then again she had never imagined him fetching her a jar either. Or taking her to a dance.  And yet here they were.

He flashed her a small smile just a hint of a smirk quirking up the corners of his mouth. "Bet I last longer than Maggie."

For the next twenty minutes, they walked around the prison courtyard while they added to their collection. Daryl stopped twice to dispatch a rowdy walker by the fence but it was okay. In their imperfect world, you had to take the bad with the good. Especially when the good was catching fireflies with Daryl Dixon.

 

 

 

Beth turned to him and she was breathless and her hair had come undone a bit and she had strays that were framing her face. She held the jar up in the moonlight and laughed softly, her voice carrying through the courtyard. She walked to him slowly and stopped right in front of him holding the jar out, an offering of sorts he thought, a self-satisfied gleam in her eyes and he thought maybe he'd find her a hundred Mason jars on his next run if it meant seeing her smile like that.

She held them up for his admiration. "There's a lot of 'em."

"Maybe they're here to remind us that there's still light left in this world. In their own beautiful way." She looked up at him, and with no particular thought in mind except to be closer still to her, he took one step, closing his hands over hers, still clutching the jar, and she was so close. So perfect.

"Don't you think that's beautiful?" Her voice was softer than it had ever been and it came to him again that this moment was just for them.

 _Oh, my girl,_ _ **you're**_ _beautiful, he thought_.

"I do." He said and as he stared right at her, he knew his longing had to be intent in his gaze. Her eyes fluttered closed and that's when he knew.

He was going to kiss her.

With the glass jar held between them, the fireflies pulsing life and light in blinking cadence to his very heartbeat, he slowly bent his head to hers, their breath hovered between them for the space of a moment, and finally touched his lips to hers and she was much softer than he imagined. Her lips were warm, pliant and he just wanted to never take his flesh from hers as he began to move his slightly, not really sure what was supposed to happen except that he did. He wanted to pour himself into her and cover her with feather light kisses and cherish her like she deserved to be cherished.

Kissing Beth Greene was like nothing else in this world and he had the sudden implicit thought that if she smiled like the sun, then she certainly tasted like it. Just warmth that seeped in through her lips to his and that flip-flopping of his heart gave way to a feeling like it might burst because kissing her was just _good_. He finally pulled away, both of them slightly out of air, leaning his forehead against hers, needing just a minute, both of them taking a steady breath from the same space, and the way she let him linger there, told him she might have needed a minute too.

Ten thousand fireflies could light up the night but nothing would compare to the luminous smile Beth shot right at him as soon as he pulled away and her eyes fluttered open. She didn't say anything and he had to wonder at a girl who was usually so fraught with chatter that it literally took him covering her mouth with his own to shut her up.

He really liked how red her cheeks were, knowing that kissing him might have set them alight like his all of his skin now felt, just a flash burn really but enough heat to know that it was something different, something special and it was all her. He realized they were still holding the jar between them. He tugged on it gently and she relinquished it so he could set it on the ground beside them and she just looked up at him like he had all the answers and he _so didn't._ All he knew is that he wanted to hold her in his arms like he had inside, only this time without so many eyes watching their every move.

She seemed to understand that without him even saying because the next thing he knew her arms were wrapped around his neck and he found his hands coming up to her waist. The sounds of the music were coming through the door behind them and it wasn't enough to hear the words but he kind of thought it didn't matter, especially when Beth started to sing along.

" _Boy take my hand, let's disappear,_

_Too many city lights around here_

_Follow my heart into the trees_

_Under the stars_

_We can lose ourselves in the midnight_

_We can find our way in the sunrise_

_Grab a mason jar full of fireflies to be our light_

_Look in my eyes_

_You've got the moon and I've got the shine."_

Standing in Daryl's arms, singing softly as they swayed to the music Beth felt a peace wash over her like she hadn't felt in a long time, maybe even ever. He'd surprised her when he kissed her and all she could think ever since he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers was that she wanted him to do it again.

She caught the flicker of the fireflies in the jar out of the corner of her eye but she couldn't take her gaze from him the way he was looking at her so.

"He doesn't look at you like a friend." Maggie was indeed right. He was not looking at her like a friend at all. Daryl Dixon was looking at her like every woman ought to be looked at. Her heart flipped over as he held her gaze and she let the lyrics of the song hang between them.

 _You've got the moon and I've got the shine_  
You've got the how and I've got the why  
We got love and we got all our lives

 _To lose ourselves in the midnight_  
We can find our way in the sunrise  
Grab a mason jar full of fireflies to be our light  
Look in my eyes, you got the moon, I've got the shine

As Beth finished the song, he thought of when they'd taken the prison that night and how she'd sung for them all. If it had offered him comfort then, he had not been willing to admit it but over time and as the months passed, being here in this place with all these people he'd come to call family, something in him had given way. And now? Her voice was soothing, calming and he thought again how they all had come to depend on her for one thing or another and right now, she was depending on him and he wasn't sure what to think about that, but it felt right.

Everything since the world had gone to hell should have felt wrong and he should have felt like giving up but right now, standing here with Beth Greene in his arms, swaying gently to the music (He still wasn't moving his feet, because he wasn't about to step on her toes again), it felt like anything could be possible.

The song ended and her voice went quiet and he looked down at her. "Did you want to go back inside?"

She looked up at him and shook her head quietly and smiled. "I like it out here just the two of us." He didn't have to wonder at what she meant because he knew. Without even giving voice to it he knew what it was.

Beth pulled her arms from around his neck, a bit self-conscious as he watched her bend over and pick up the jar. "I guess we should let them go." She sighed as she looked up at him, plopping down on the grass without ceremony as she pat the ground beside him.

"You're gonna mess up your pretty dress." He looked at her sideways before joining her on the grassy hillside away from the fences.

She shrugged and smiled at him as she held up the jar. "It's not like I'll be wearing it anywhere again."

He couldn't argue with that. He wouldn't be wearing the get-up he had on anytime soon either.

"Think there'll ever be stuff like this again? You know. Like dances. Summer picnics. Birthday parties?" She was looking up at the stars again as she asked him and then brought her gaze back to his and he realized he wanted her to have all of it. He wanted her to have all the things that a girl like her was supposed to have before the world had gone to hell.

He shrugged. "I don't know." He said honestly and he hated that look in her eyes. Hated to see that world of disappointment and thought again of how this night and this moment was different and special, just like she was special. And he was glad that they could have this between them.

She didn't say anything, she just nodded and reached between them for the Mason jar and unscrewed the lid, handing it to him. "You want to do the honors?"

He shook his head. "Nah, you go ahead." He watched her take the lid off and lay it in the grass beside her. Watched her as she held it up against the night sky, all of the fireflies crawling their way up to freedom and flying out into the darkness.

She put the jar down on the other side of her and reached for his hand, lacing their fingers together. "Thanks for all of this, Daryl."

""S nothin'." He looked at her, taking in his gaze and he wondered what she thought of him. Wondered that she was here with him, her fingers intertwined with his like they didn't have a care in the world.

Beth watched as the last firefly flickered out of their line of sight and she thought about how they were free now from their imprisonment. They were free to fly and she thought of how she had wished that for her and this man beside her. That they could take flight away from here, and be free of all that kept them stuck here with death and decay all around them and she thought in a way tonight they had. They were like those fireflies, all lit up with light and life and she could feel it pulsing between them now, two heartbeats synced up with a perfect starry night.

She looked up at him. "No, it's everything." She said solemnly.

He didn't know what to say to that. Didn't know what to say at all so he did the only thing he could think of. The only thing he'd wanted to do since he'd rested his forehead against hers, their breath mingled in wonder, in newness. He turned towards her and leaning in, he reached up and brushed her wild and wispy strays out of her eyes and pushed his fingers through her hair and kissed her again.

Daryl brought his lips to hers and Beth wasn't sure but she thought she might have sighed. She disentangled her fingers from his, choosing instead to wind her hands into the front of his shirt, hanging on and she thought then that maybe it was okay that they stay here for now. He could be her anchor in this stormy life and maybe, just maybe she could be his too.

It was a daring thought, it seemed, brave even, that she could be thus for him, but the way he was hanging onto her now and his mouth was on hers, kissing her softly, sweetly, she thought maybe anything was possible. A starry night, fireflies and dancing in the moonlight. Yes, anything was indeed possible. Maybe even love.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic was really fun to write and I hope you enjoyed it, let me know in a comment. xoxoxo

**Author's Note:**

> Well this little story has been floating around in my brain for nearly a year. I got a prompt from someone last year for "I Don't Dance" by Lee Brice. I have since lost the journal that it was written in so please if someone knows that they gave me this prompt, let me know! Lol
> 
> I highly suggest you listen to the song before or while reading this as it will really enhance it. Also, I've developed an obsession for Delta Rae and also listened to "Dance in the Graveyards" and also "Moonshine" by Sara Haze. All great songs and all Bethyl songs to me.
> 
> So this story has two 3 chapters; the next will be from Beth's POV and the next will alternate their POV. Hope you like this little ficlet and the accompanying edit. Be sure to let me know if you do (or don't) Until next time, xoxoxo


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